


Barely Awake

by Kairos27universe



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Not Canon Compliant - Persona 5: The Royal, Persona 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24927427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairos27universe/pseuds/Kairos27universe
Summary: A short excerpt of what if Goro Akechi woke up in the middle of the merge between real world and metaverse, despite having been dead. While the Phantom Thieves are already on their way to face the God of Control, a pained Detective finds himself in an odd situation.Written before Royal, and originally intended as a multi-chapter fic
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Barely Awake

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy this is gonna seem unfinished, and well... it is lol. In here, Akechi was supposed to be brought back to life due to the merge messing with cognition and also because he would have a bit of Yaldabaoth inside of him. I started this long ago but now that Royal is out and (I haven't played it yet but saw a few spoilers here and there), I suppose it's a bit outdated... 
> 
> In any case, thank you for reading!

Goro Akechi wakes up, and tries to look around, to no avail. His head hurts, hurts a lot; so it takes him some time for his eyes to fully adjust to the environment.

He is lying down in the middle of the street, sprawled with his back facing up. He is back to his usual, real life clothing. People around him are either staring from a distance or not minding him at all. Some are screaming, which makes his ears hurt. He notices it’s raining; the cold and wet water accumulating on the floor makes him want to get up. He doesn’t manage to, however; all the members of his body feel heavy, and pained. He only barely kneels, putting a hand on the ground to avoid falling back. It’s in that moment that he realizes just how much his head hurts. It hurts SO FREAKING MUCH. It feels like someone thrust a spear right over it. Like someone shot him right through the hea—

He stops.

Slowly, his other hand reaches out to his forehead. He knew that it was wet, and dripping; but didn’t pay much attention, blaming it on the rain. It was obvious now – **painfully** obvious – that it was because of something else. For the moment he touched his forehead and felt a small hole in it, an unnaturally deep hole, he loudly groaned as pain pulsed through his head. When he looked at his fingers again, they were tinted red with blood. A rush of despair came to him, together with the memory of what had happened.

The other Akechi shot him, on Shido’s orders, in Shido’s palace. Right through the head.

Shit.

The realization brought an even harsher wave of pain to his forehead.

Pain.

So much pain.

Too much pain.

That was all he was feeling right now. He didn’t even question why he was alive with such a wound. All he felt was the sheer agony from the injury; the only thing he managed to do for quite a few seconds was scream. Meanwhile, some people around him started getting closer.

“You’re here! Goro Akechi!”

“Our prayers have been answered!”

“Detective Prince! Please, you have to help us!”

“What is going on?! Why is the city like this?!”

“…Shut up!”

His yell was enough for them all to quiet down. They didn’t seem to notice the wound on his forehead. His bangs probably obscured it.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!”

The pain that wouldn’t stop in his head, plus the annoying and stupid rain, made him easily lose his temper. He didn’t even mind keeping his polite and pleasant mask he used to don in public; the pain was too much already, and he didn’t need random fans to talk shit to him.

It worked. They all dispersed with frightened and surprised looks, though some muttered something under their breaths while getting away. Maybe they would spread some rumor about him later. Did it even matter anymore, though?

“Fuck… you…” Akechi said, breathing raggedly.

A few more seconds passed. He started getting slightly used to the pain in his head. Looking around once more, this time feeling more lucid, he finally understood what those people were wary of.

His eyes widened at the sight. Amidst the tall buildings stood gigantic bone structures, but not ones that belonged to any animal, living or extinct, that he knew of. In fact, they reminded him of… centipedes? Which have chitin exoskeletons as opposed to the apparently calcium-strengthened bones these weird things do, and certainly are not of that size. Some had what appeared to be dark moss hanging off of them, resulting in an even more decrepit appearance.

This scenery was such a shock that for a moment he even forgot the pain in his members, and managed to get up. Now from a higher view, he could see that these skeleton-like things were everywhere. Besides them, big spike-shaped rocks had sprouted all over the streets. Some people didn’t seem to notice any of this, however, just walking around mindlessly as if nothing was wrong. Others were worried, and even in panic, not knowing what the hell was going on.

But Goro had an idea. This was surely something out of the Metaverse, so the people just now must have been just some stupid cognitions or measly shadows. Looking more closely, this kind of distorted, ugly design that disgusted him just by looking at seemed to be related to Mementos. So, after being shot in Shido’s Cruise, he ended up falling in Mementos? Is it possible to simply slip up to somewhere else in the Metaverse like that? Does that mean that the Palace had… disappeared?

Questions about the politician started flooding his mind. Masayoshi Shido. He needed to know what happened to his shitty ‘father’. A distant sound caught his attention, however, one he recognized as a blast of sorts, not unlike the ones he heard when he was fighting alongside the Phantom Thieves against Shadows. It came from one of the big bone structures far away… What was going on there?

He didn’t get to look into it, however, as the pain on his limbs came back to him again, and he fell down on the floor, barely managing to use his palms to halt the fall. Why did his legs and arms feel so stiff?!

It was then that he noticed the puddles of ‘water’ on the floor weren’t water. The liquid that rained down over Tokyo was pink, almost red in color. It even seemed like the droplets were actually blood, giving the whole city a grim atmosphere.

Akechi forced himself to try to get up once more, but this time his members completely failed him. He fell face first, in such a way that his forehead hit the ground harshly. The pain he felt reached a level he could not handle and the boy passed out on the spot.

...

Managing to open his eyes a little, he felt the cold liquid touching his face. Goro wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the scenery seemed to be the same as before. Without moving in the slightest, he shifted his gaze around, noticing a few people seemed to be dissolving in black mist, like killed Shadows. He didn’t care much though. The pain started to pulse in his forehead again, and he honestly wished to disappear just like them, so the pain would go away.

He didn’t hear the light steps that slowly made their way to him, until the person responsible for them was in his immediate sight. He squinted, trying to focus on whoever was standing there, but their proximity didn’t make it possible for him to see their face. All he could see were shiny black shoes, white tights and the end of a blue dress.

“I found him. I shall take him to you, as requested, Master.”

From the voice, and judging by their apparent height, it was just a young girl. But he didn’t know any girl this age, and she didn’t seem to be a fan. But apparently she was looking specifically for him?

“W-who…are you…?”

“Oh, he is still conscious…! It will be painful if I take you while you remain awake, so please forgive me for this.”

“What…” He started to inquire, but didn’t get to finish as a glow appeared from the mysterious girl and… something else showed up.

“Sandman. Dormina, please.”

A white and glittery liquid started bubbling under him from the ground, out of nowhere. Akechi immediately recognized what it was from his years fighting shadows, but given his state, could do nothing to stop it. He was too weak physically to do anything, much less summon his persona.

The drowsiness spread itself through his body, numbing his limbs and making most of the pain disappear. It soon started affecting his mind; his eyes started to get heavy, and not long after Goro Akechi felt in a deep slumber. He didn’t wake up when the gold-eyed girl summoned another persona, a big robotic-like angel that gently picked him up and took him over his shoulder. The girl started walking, and the figure followed her shortly. They were headed to a door not visible to normal people, one emitting a blue aura of mystery and otherworldness.

...


End file.
